


monsters under the bed

by TheWeatherOutside



Series: Take Us Home [2]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Adopted, Angst, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, wee tracys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27044284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWeatherOutside/pseuds/TheWeatherOutside
Summary: Gordon has been settling in nicely with his new family, his newhome. Jeff is nice and his brothers are always there for him. But the demons he thought he'd left behind never truly went away.
Series: Take Us Home [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973725
Comments: 20
Kudos: 22





	monsters under the bed

**Author's Note:**

> More found family au anyone?
> 
> Big thanks to pokeranger21 for this idea!

Gordon's head was rested on his hands as he looked out the window of the classroom. There was still a whole other hour to go until the lesson was over and he could go home, but he was already feeling tired and he didn't know if he could last one more minute with Mrs Caesar going on about the history of the American flag.

It was starting to snow outside, and he wondered if it would be enough to give them a snow day tomorrow. They had only been back for two weeks since the holiday break, but he was already looking forward to some time off.

His attention was drawn away from the window and to the door as someone new stepped into the classroom. Mrs Caesar stopped talking as Miss Walden, the principal's secretary, made her way over to the front of the room.

She said something to the history teacher that was too quiet for Gordon to hear, but then Mrs Caesar's eyes met Gordon's.

"Gordon, your parents are here to pick you up."

Gordon paused for a moment in confusion, wondering why Jeff would be here so soon, but he decided to not question it. If it meant he didn't have to fall asleep in this class for a moment more, he would happily leave early.

He threw his things into his backpack and grabbed his coat from where it was hanging up on his assigned hook near the door, and then followed Miss Walden out of the classroom.

She didn't say anything to Gordon on their way, he just walked behind her as she led him to the front of the school.

When they reached the reception area, Gordon's eyes were immediately drawn to the woman standing in the corridor.

She was just how he remembered her. Short, blond hair that sat on her shoulders and red lipstick on a smile that stretched across her face. She was wearing a polka dot dress despite the weather, and her hands were wrapped around the handle of her purse.

"Momma?" Gordon barely uttered, not believing his eyes.

"Gordy." One hand left her purse as she pulled him into a hug. Gordon was too shocked to return it.

She pulled away and Gordon wanted to say something, but before he could, she pulled his coat out of his arms.

"Let's get your coat on. It's very cold out there."

She held his coat out and he slipped his arms through the sleeves, too bewildered to not do as she said. She crouched down in front of him to zip it up, and with her face so close, Gordon was sure he could see tears in her eyes.

"Momma-"

"Let's get going then. Don't want to miss the dentist." She grabbed onto his hand and smiled over at Miss Walden, who was still there, watching them.

Gordon looked up at her in the hope that she would know what was happening, but all she did was smile and say goodbye as Gordon was pulled out the double doors. He was still too stunned to resist and allowed his mom to guide him out of the school and across the parking lot.

It wasn't until they reached the car that Gordon could finally find it in him to stop.

There was a man sat in the driver's seat, the window next to him open as one arm hung out of it. Gordon could see smoke blow out through the window, as the hand that was holding the cigarette tapped impatiently against the car door.

"Finally!" The man grumbled as he saw them coming. He flicked the remains of the cigarette onto the ground. "We don't have all day."

"I'm sorry, Charles, but I couldn't rush it. They would have gotten suspicious otherwise." His mom moved to take a step closer to the car, but was prevented by Gordon who refused to move forward. "Gordy?"

"No." Gordon's feet were planted in fear as he took in the man looking right at him. He suddenly felt very cold and it had nothing to do with the weather.

"Come on, Gordy." His mom gently tugged on his arm to get him to come closer to the car, but Gordon still didn't move. "It's time to go."

"No!" Now Gordon could find it in him to actively pull on the hand holding his. He tried to rip his arm out of her grasp, but she wouldn't relent. "No, no, no!"

He tried using his other hand to pry her grip off of him and he stepped as far away from them as he could, but his mom still tried to pull him closer. There were tears now streaking down his cheeks and he could feel them drip off his chin.

His struggles were suddenly stilled as he heard the car door open. He slowly lifted his gaze to the man who stood outside of the car. He loomed over Gordon like a shadow, where only his eyes were visible. Eyes that were so dark and threatened to do the worst if he didn't comply.

"Get in the car, Gordon," his father said in a voice barely above a whisper. That was what did it for Gordon. The quieter his voice got, the angrier he was.

Gordon stopped resisting and let his mom bring him over to the car. He sat in the backseat and let her strap him in, before she closed the door on him and made her way to the front.

His dad sat in the driver's seat and once they were all in, the car started to move.

Gordon looked at the school sadly as they pulled away, and he was dragged off to who knew where.

* * *

Jeff had his hands tucked into his pockets to keep them warm whilst he waited for his boys to come out of the school. It had been snowing all afternoon and there was already a thick layer of it on the ground.

Alan was the first one out of the school, and he came barrelling towards Jeff the moment he saw him.

"Careful, Allie. The ground is slippery." Jeff grasped onto his youngest when he almost slipped over on the snow, but he seemed to barely pay attention to Jeff's words.

"Daddy, look at what I made."

A piece of paper was shoved in Jeff's face, and he carefully took the crumpled piece of paper out of his son's hands.

On the paper was a painting. There were seven colourful splotches on it, and after being shown several similar pieces of artwork in the past, he quickly realised what the painting was of.

"This is us?" Jeff looked down to his son, who nodded eagerly. "It's lovely, Alan. I'll make sure to put it up on the fridge when we get back."

Alan grinned and Jeff ruffled his hair before he turned back to the painting.

Under the figures that were meant to be him, his sons, and their grandma, there were big letters that spelled out ‘My Famely.’

Jeff chuckled at the misspelling, but then looked up as he heard someone new approach.

John was making his way over to them, kicking the snow that was in his path until he reached them.

"Hi, John. How was your day?" Jeff asked him when he arrived.

"I got an A on my math homework." He then reached into his bag and pulled out the work to hand to Jeff.

Jeff looked down at the scrawling on the paper and he felt a proud smile stretch onto his face. There were ticks in red pen all over the page, and a big '100%' in a circle at the top with 'well done!' written next to it.

"You want me to put this on the fridge, too?" Jeff moved the paper into his other hand to join Alan's art.

John just shrugged in return, but Jeff knew he would put it up no matter what his answer was. John was a very smart kid, and he already had a good section of the fridge dedicated to all his good grades.

They waited around for several more minutes for Gordon to show up. Other parents and children were starting to disappear, and there were only a few left, including them.

Jeff frowned when after five minutes, Gordon still hadn't appeared. He thought that maybe his class were late coming out, but Jeff had already seen some of his friends leaving. It wasn't like Gordon to hang around after school.

"Where's Gordy?" Alan asked him when he also realised he had yet to come out.

"I don't know, but let's go find out."

Jeff took Alan's hand in his and made his way into the school, with John following them closely behind.

Jeff went straight to the reception and rang the bell at the front window to get someone's attention.

"Can I help you?" A woman with a kind smile appeared on the other side of the window.

"Yes, I'm looking for my son. Gordon Tracy. Do you know where he might be?" Jeff gave her a smile in return, not wanting to let his worry seep through. Maybe he just had to speak to his teacher before he left.

But the way her smile fell slightly and was replaced by a confused glance had him thinking otherwise.

"Oh, Gordon? He left with his mother over an hour ago."

Jeff felt his stomach twist at those words.

"Mother? He doesn't have a mom. I'm the one who picks him up, or his grandma."

"I'm sorry, sir." There was a shake in her voice as she spoke. "I'm new and am still learning who all of the children's parents are. But I saw them off, and Gordon called her his mother. I'm sorry, he didn't say anything that made me think I should worry."

Jeff's brow creased at that and he felt a sort of dread bubbling up inside him as he considered what that could mean.

"What did she say her name was?" Jeff could feel his hand sweat where it still held onto Alan's, and he tried to not grip too hard to his son as he started to panic.

"Tiffany, I think."

Jeff's heart started hammering in his chest and he felt like he couldn't breathe as he heard the name of Gordon's birth mother. The woman in front of him was flicking through the visitor sign in book, and she turned the page to Jeff.

Jeff looked down and he saw her name, scrawled in the signature box. Gordon's name was in the section of the child she was signing out, and next to it the sign out time was indeed a whole hour earlier.

"She said he had a dentist appointment," the woman whispered in disbelief, but Jeff didn't pay her any mind. His son was missing.

At that moment, the principal came out, asking what was going on. Thankfully, he knew all about Gordon's background, and so he knew the true extent of what was happening without Jeff having to explain too much.

"I'll call the police," he said, and hurried back to his office to make the phone call.

Jeff pulled out his own phone and quickly called up his mother.

He tried to explain as much as he could. He wasn't sure if any of it made any sense, but she agreed to pick up Scott and Virgil for him, who were probably wondering what was taking him so long, and then take Alan and John from him so he could go down to the station.

When Jeff hung up on her, he took a deep breath, but then he felt a small tug on his hand.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Alan's worried voice came up from his side, and Jeff tried to muster up a smile. His present sons had been quiet throughout the whole thing. They were probably very confused at what was going on, but he appreciated their silence up until this point so he could concentrate on the problem at hand.

"Your grandma is going to come and pick you two up. She will explain it all." After talking to the principal and then his mother, Jeff didn't think he had the energy to go over it all again right then. Especially as he knew he would need to go through it all with the police, not to mention he would have to find the strength to find a way to explain it in a way that Alan and John would understand and not worry them too much.

The police arrived before his mother, but they let him wait around until she could pick up his sons.

Once she had arrived and Alan and John were safely taken back home with her, Jeff headed off with the police to the station. He followed behind them in his car so he didn't leave it behind at the school, but he was also glad for the brief moment he could be alone.

Everything had happened so quickly, and it was only just catching up to him as to what was happening.

Jeff had never met Gordon's parents, or really any of his sons' previous families except for Scott's, so he didn't truly know what they were like. All he knew about them were from the adoption agency, and the small bits of information that Gordon decided to give him.

By the sounds of it, Gordon's mother was the better half of his parents. She had been the one who contacted the agency in the first place and had gotten Gordon out of that awful environment. But it seemed she was still trapped herself and was still under the influence of her husband.

He was the one that Jeff was really worried about. If he finally had Gordon back under his control, there was no telling what he would do to him.

* * *

Gordon had no idea how long they had been driving for, but it felt like an eternity. He didn't recognise anything out of the window. All he saw were fields and trees and the occasional gas station.

"Where are we going?" Gordon finally felt brave enough to speak up from the backseat. He had long ago realised that they were not in fact going to the dentist.

His mom twisted around in her seat and gave him a smile.

"Home," was all she said.

Gordon's face twisted at the word. His home was with Jeff and his brothers and their little family they had created. Not with these two.

However, he didn't want to say that out loud, because he knew what the consequences would be.

"I need to use the bathroom." He knew it was risky asking for something, but he also knew he would be in deeper trouble if he had an accident.

"Hold it." His father brushed him off immediately.

"But-"

"Come on, Charles. There's a gas station a couple of miles away. I could use the stop too." His mom sent a small glance back at him, and Gordon could muster up a small smile to give her in return for being on his side.

A deep sigh escaped his father, before he muttered, "fine."

They pulled up to the gas station and Gordon went to open his door, but his father beat him to it. He was on the other side, opening it up and pulling Gordon out of his seat by his arm.

"I can take him," his mom offered, but his father dismissed her immediately.

"No, I am taking him. As soon as you are done, you come back to the car."

His father kept one hand on Gordon's shoulder the whole way into the service station and to the dingy bathroom.

He only left Gordon alone long enough for Gordon to go into the little cubicle on his own, but he was waiting for him when he left and watched him intently as Gordon washed his hands.

As soon as he was done, his grip returned to Gordon's shoulder and he guided him back to the car.

His mom wasn't there by the time they got back to the car, and Gordon panicked at the thought that maybe she'd left him all alone with his father. But she returned just shortly after the two of them had climbed into the car.

"What took you so long?" His father growled as he started the vehicle, not even bothering to check the others were buckled in before he drove off.

"I'm sorry, there was a queue." Gordon could see his mom look down at her hands as they clasped the front of her dress.

"That's no excuse," his father scoffed.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Momma," Gordon tried to comfort her the same way she did for him sometimes after his father shouted at him.

She turned around just enough to give Gordon a watery smile.

"Shut up."

Gordon's mouth immediately snapped closed as his father raised his voice. Gordon was sitting behind him, so he didn't know what he looked like, but he could imagine his face in that moment. Jaw clenched and brow low, a crease on his forehead that sat above dark, black eyes.

A moment later, the radio was turned on. Gordon knew that was his cue to really be quiet, especially as the volume was turned up and he had to shove his hands over his ears to block the noise out.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled his knees up to his chest as best he could in the cramped backseat of the car, and hoped that there was someone out there to rescue him.

* * *

Jeff was exhausted by the time he left the police station. It was already night and way past all his sons' bedtimes, but he wasn't surprised to see them all up when he walked through the front door.

"Daddy!" Alan came running up to him and wrapped his hands around his legs. Jeff gave him a hug back, needing as much comfort from his family as he could get. "Did you find Gordy?"

"Not yet, son." Jeff gave him a regretful look at the sad gaze that sat on all his sons' faces.

"Did they find anything?" His mother asked him from the back of the small huddle around him.

Jeff nodded as he stood up and shook off his jacket.

"There's a camera out the front of the school. It caught the licence plate of the car Gordon was taken in. If they can find that car, then they will hopefully find Gordon."

"So they have found him?" Scott's hopeful voice spoke up.

"No," Jeff shook his head with a fond smile. His sons were never ones for getting down too soon. "But not all hope is lost. We will find your brother."

The faces in front of him were what kept him going through all this, and they lessened the anxiety within him.

"Now, isn't it all past your bedtimes? Off to bed with all of you." Jeff started to usher them up the stairs. "I'll be up in a bit to check on you."

"But I don't want to sleep alone, daddy!" Alan cried and refused to move.

"Don't worry, you can sleep in my room, Allie." Scott took his hand in his and pulled him up the stairs after him.

John and Virgil followed closely behind, and Jeff could hear them making plans to both sleep in Virgil's room that night.

"You look like you could use some food," his mother guided Jeff into the kitchen with a gentle hand on his arm after the boys had headed up.

She deposited Jeff in a chair at the kitchen table and before Jeff had even processed what was happening, a bowl of leftover pasta and a mug of coffee appeared in front of him. Jeff eagerly picked up the coffee.

"How was it all really?" His mother asked him as she sat down next to him at the table. "You can fool them, but you can't fool me."

"It was horrible, mom." Jeff kept his hands wrapped around the mug so that the heat could seep into his cold bones. "They let me watch the footage. I saw as they dragged him away. He tried to fight them, but he couldn't get away."

"That boy is a fighter," his mother mused.

"They did find the licence plate, though." Jeff didn't want to lose grip of the one thing they had. "It won't be long until they find him."

"They will find him." His mother took one of his hands from the mug and grasped it in her own. "Now, eat up and then get upstairs. I'm sure all those boys will be wanting a cuddle before they can get some sleep."

"I won't be surprised. God knows I need it too." Jeff suspected he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

* * *

Gordon hadn't realised he'd fallen asleep, but as he opened his eyes and stretched, he saw it was night.

He was woken up by the car stopping. Gordon looked out the window, and saw from the light of the streetlamps, they were in a parking lot next to a medium sized building.

"Get out." His door was swung open and Gordon quickly undid his seatbelt before his father had the chance to pull him from the car again.

"Where are we?" Gordon asked as he took in his surroundings a bit more.

There were a few other cars parked outside the building, but there was no one else to be seen. The building had two floors, with doors and windows running down the side and a set of stairs leading to a balcony that ran along the top floor.

Gordon spun around to the other side of the parking lot, where the road sat and was illuminated by a big, neon sign that read 'Motel. Rooms Available.'

Gordon was roughly pushed forward and towards the building. They stopped outside one of the doors on the lower level, and his father fumbled with some keys before he slotted one into the lock and opened the door.

The room was tiny and had one double bed in the middle. The light was switched on, but it was still fairly dim in there and from where Gordon was standing, he could only just see the other door at the other end of the room, which Gordon presumed was the bathroom.

"Go and sit on the bed," his father commanded, and Gordon did so without hesitation.

His father shut the door behind them and locked it up as much as possible, before he put the key to the room in his pocket.

"I'm going to wash up. Tiffany, make sure he doesn't move."

His father traipsed off to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, making Gordon flinch at the loud noise.

Gordon stayed sitting on the bed, staring at the wall across from him just like he was told to do, but at some point, he heard his tummy rumble.

"Momma?" Gordon twisted around to look for his mom, who was sitting in a chair near the bathroom door and looking through her purse. "I'm hungry."

His mom looked up at him, and then hesitantly at the bathroom.

"Not now, Gordy. Just stay where you are."

"But-" Gordon was cut off by the sound of his tummy rumbling again.

The corner of his mom's mouth lifted a little, and her eyes flickered back to the bathroom door before moving to her purse.

"Alright, I have a granola bar in here." She went fishing through her bag before she pulled the aforementioned food item from her bag. "But you have to eat it quickly, alright?"

Gordon nodded eagerly and started munching on the bar as soon as he'd ripped it out the packet.

He tried his hardest to eat it fast, but he was only halfway through the snack bar before his father came out of the bathroom.

Gordon stilled in his chewing and his mother spun around quickly to face the man.

His father took two steps across the room and ripped the remains of the bar out of Gordon's hands.

"Did you give him this?" His father slowly turned to his mom, who took a step back.

"Yes, but he said he was-"

A slap, and she was quiet.

"I don't care what he said he was, I told you to make sure he didn't move."

His father suddenly threw the granola bar onto the floor and crushed the remaining half of it into the carpet with his heel.

Gordon hoped that would be the end of it, but he wasn't so lucky. His father then turned on him and made his way over to where Gordon still sat on the bed.

"I thought I made myself very clear." He abruptly grabbed onto Gordon's jaw and forced him to look up at him. "That you were meant to sit here and wait. Does that mean that you eat?"

Gordon shook his head as much as he could with his father's grip keeping his head in place. He was crying again and he wished his dad would let go of him as his grip was beginning to hurt.

"I didn't think so."

His father threw his head to the side as he let him go, and the remaining food that was still in Gordon's mouth was spat onto the floor. Gordon choked on the smaller bits that went down his throat.

"I was going to be nice and let you sleep on the bed, but now you've disobeyed my trust." His father straightened up, so he was looming at his fall height over Gordon. "You will sleep on the floor and think about what you've done. Do I make myself clear?"

Gordon nodded again, without looking up to meet his father's eyes.

"Good."

His father walked away and started to take off his suit jacket and tie. Gordon took that to mean that he also needed to get ready for bed.

As he didn't have any pyjamas to change into or even a toothbrush, all Gordon could do to make himself comfortable was to take his shoes off and leave them neatly near the door.

He then curled up in the middle of the floor as his parents got into the bed. He didn't even have a pillow or a blanket. All he could do was wrap his arms around his small body and try not to shiver as the heater barely did its job at keeping the room warm.

Gordon laid there for a long while. He couldn't sleep with the fear of being so close to the man that could hurt him at any minute. He was also too cold and the ground was too uncomfortable to sleep.

As he laid there, he thought about his family. About Jeff and all his brothers that would hopefully be looking for him. He needed them to be looking for him.

But then Gordon realised something. Whether they were looking for him or not, he couldn't stick around here any longer.

Something that Jeff had taught him long ago was that if he was in trouble, he needed to look for help. He knew he was in a lot of trouble here, and if help wouldn't come to him, he needed to go to it.

With a determined feeling in his gut, Gordon slowly pushed himself off the ground and crawled over to where his father had left his suit jacket, where the keys to the door were.

He pushed his tiny hand into the pocket and as gently as possible, he pulled out the keys. They rattled slightly his hand, but he hoped it wasn't enough to rouse anyone.

When he got to the front door, he realised he had no idea what key was for what lock. There were several of them, and so he just had to hope he used the correct one.

The rattling of the keys in the locks were bound to wake someone up this time, and he whipped his head around when he heard stirring coming from the bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" His father asked as he sat up in the bed.

Gordon panicked and turned back to the locks. There was only one left and it was far above his head, and he had to reach high until the clasp was undone and the door unlocked.

He pulled the door open at the same time his father came flying at him from the bed. Gordon didn't bother to grab his shoes and soon his socked feet were carrying him across the parking lot as his father came barrelling behind him.

"Help!" Gordon cried as he ran as fast as he could. "Help-!"

His wet socks slipped on the snow and sent him crashing into the concrete.

The snow only softened the crash slightly, but didn't stop him from smacking his head into the floor. There was also a stinging pain in his knee that felt all too like when he tripped over on the playground, but rather focusing on that, he focused on trying to get up.

However, he couldn't get up in time before his father caught up and grabbed him from behind. He felt arms wrap around his waist and then he was being scooped up of the floor.

"No!" Gordon screamed as he struggled in the man's grip. His legs kicked out and his arms were thrown about to try and get free.

"I am your father, and yet you treat me this way." The arms around him tightened, and Gordon cried in pain and fear.

But throughout it all, Gordon could still find it in him to speak.

"You are not my dad!"

"Oh, yeah?" He could feel the man's mouth so close to his ear. "Then who is?"

Before Gordon could reply, there were sirens and flashing lights in the distance. He felt his heart rate pick up in hope and tried to struggle some more.

Then, he was suddenly dropped to the ground. Gordon didn't even bother to question it and instead picked himself off the cold floor and started running to the lights.

The sirens had stopped as the cars reached the parking lot, but the lights were still flashing. Several people got out, but Gordon didn't even pay attention to who. He just kept running until he ran straight into a solid figure.

They wrapped their arms around him, and Gordon sobbed into their shoulder. He didn't even care that it was a stranger, just as long as they were there to save him.

* * *

Jeff drove as fast as he could down the highway, which was drastically affected by the icy roads and snow that filled his windscreen.

On any normal day, he would avoid driving out in these conditions, but right now he didn't care. All he cared about was that his son was down this very road and he needed him.

Jeff honestly had not been expecting to receive a call so soon, which was why he was surprised he was woken up by his phone ringing just moments after he'd finally managed to get some sleep.

The police officer on the other end of the line said that they had managed to track down the car with the licence plate at the very moment a call came in about a disturbance at a motel. They had quickly made the connection and sent officers out immediately.

Jeff was ecstatic to find out that they'd found his son. What he wasn't happy about was that apparently his kidnappers had managed to get away.

But that was something that Jeff could worry about later. What he could think about now was that Gordon was safe.

Gordon was currently at a police station about halfway between where he had been found and where Jeff was coming from, so Jeff didn't have to drive as far.

When Jeff reached the station, he didn't even park the car properly before he flew open the door and hurried into the building.

He asked the first officer he saw where his son was, and they directed him into a small office.

Gordon was sitting in a chair in the office. He had a blanket around his shoulders and there was a tired look on his face as he stared down at the floor.

He heard them coming into the room, though, and his head whipped up at the sound.

His eyes locked onto to Jeff's and then he was flying off the chair.

"Dad!" He cried at Jeff and wrapped his arms around him, but Jeff was almost too shocked to hug him back.

Gordon had never called him dad before, only ever by his first name, and Jeff felt his heart melt immediately.

"Gordo." Jeff finally wrapped his arms round his son and squeezed him tightly, but gently.

"I love you, dad."

Jeff could feel Gordon shake in his arms as he started to cry, and Jeff couldn't stop his own tears from falling.

"I love you, too, son."


End file.
